Former vice president Dick Cheney told ABC News it was a mistake for Sen. John McCain to have picked Sarah Palin as a running mate four years ago. Um, it was also a mistake for George W. Bush to have picked him as a running mate as well. He said he has given Mitt Romney advice, though he won’t say what that advice is.

“That one,” Cheney said, “I don’t think was well handled.”

“The test to get on that small list has to be, ‘Is this person capable of being president of the United States?’”

Cheney believes Sarah Palin failed that test.

“I like Governor Palin. I’ve met her. I know her. She – attractive candidate. But based on her background, she’d only been governor for, what, two years. I don’t think she passed that test…of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake.” Source: ABC News

Dick Cheney is certainly has a lot of nerve. He seems to think people have forgotten that the bottom of the economic bucket fell out under his and President Bush’s watch. Can you say waterboarding?

I never intentionally wish bad on anyone, plenty of that to face in day to day life for us all. But when I see his photo, he strolling across a lovely path in the Grand Tetons, is it okay if I don’t particularly wish him well?

He is a scar and part of a dark chapter in American, if not world history, and the sooner he is taken out of the media spotlight, the better.

http://www.americaincontext.com Barky

Former vice president Dick Cheney told ABC News it was a mistake for Sen. John McCain to have picked Sarah Palin as a running mate four years ago.

Its a shame that John McCain is still in denial about it. McCain rises to the occasion sometimes but other times his own ambition gets the better of him as it did when he picked Palin. He was out of favor with conservatives and knew he needed to go outside the box to gin up turnout among them– so he picked an unknown who would turn out to be a Tea Party darling.

Yes, she was inexperienced, yes she was uninformed, but the TP likes their candidates that way–look at TP darlings Scott Walker and Jan Brewer neither of whom have 4 year degrees. Republican party guru Rush Limbaugh is himself a college dropout.
No wonder they denegrate education for the masses! That is not included in their definition of success which seems to ride solely on making a lot of money.

http://www.americaincontext.com Barky

the TP likes their candidates that way–look at TP darlings Scott Walker and Jan Brewer neither of whom have 4 year degrees. Republican party guru Rush Limbaugh is himself a college dropout.

But math is hard!

zephyr

Wow! The credibility gap on the political right is so cavernous that a failure of a human being like Dick Cheney is trying to serve as a voice of reason? Good lord…

Cedarbear

The worst part of Cheney’s being the VP pick was that he was the chairman of GW Bush’s VP selection team and in the end determined that there was a window for him to get the neo-conservative’s empire building/economic crashing (they believe that ‘deficits don’t matter’) back on agenda that he, Rumsfield and Wolfowitz were the master minds of, so he went to Bush and presented himself as the most qualified VP pick. Now there’s the height of presumption, aggrandizement, buffoonery and outright disregard for common sense there is.

So yes, I guess Cheney is a bit of an authority on who not to select as a VP running mate, since he became the most despised, maligned and detested VP in America’s history, in large part responsible for the bringing down GW Bush as the most unpopular and detested of all American presidents ever. A position he well deserves for his own foolishness in believing Cheney and in turn selecting him for his VP. Something that sadly, McCain did not learn, and hopefully Romney does not fall into the same trap of doing.

Frankly, Republican presidential candidates are the crap at choosing their VP running mates – something that Democratic presidential candidates seem to have a better handle on.

zephyr

What CedarBear said. Should be interesting to see who Romney picks. Could be entertaining as well, given his history in this campaign so far.

The_Ohioan

Cheney is an interesting historical figure. He was an excellent Secty. of Defense, calm, efficient, straightforward, down to earth. Then 9/11 happened and he was apparently literally scared out of his mind. Many of his friends say he changed overnight into the secretive paranoid person that was Vice President for the next several years and even now can see no other choices he could have made. It’s a lesson for all political wannabe’s. And it’s a lesson for all of us that anyone can fail under enough stress. A sad end for a promising career.

The_Ohioan

As far as party VP picks, since 1956, there have been some winners, some losers, and one or two really close calls to disaster. In the main, known and credible candidates were usually chosen.

Cheney is an interesting historical figure. He was an excellent Secty. of Defense, calm, efficient, straightforward, down to earth. Then 9/11 happened and he was apparently literally scared out of his mind. Many of his friends say he changed overnight into the secretive paranoid person that was Vice President for the next several years and even now can see no other choices he could have made. It’s a lesson for all political wannabe’s. And it’s a lesson for all of us that anyone can fail under enough stress. A sad end for a promising career.

I would agree with this. Remember Cheney was SecDef for the 1st Persian Gulf war, and that was the most brilliantly performed battleplan in U.S. history.

Cheney wasn’t the only one who snapped, I remember Deputy SecDef Paul Wolfowitz’s voice cracking right on the airwaves and thinking “OMG, they are operating from fear not from reason” and becoming very afraid myself.